"All In" aims to give Brownsville youth a brighter future

By mwatson

Created 11/18/2013 - 5:03pm

POSTED: Monday, November 18, 2013 - 5:03pm

UPDATED: Tuesday, November 19, 2013 - 8:59am

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS (KVEO NEWSCENTER 23) — Brownsville was one of only three cities in the entire country to receive funding from the Gates Foundation for the Partners for Postsecondary Success - a program Brownsville has dubbed "all in." And it involves a variety of different Brownsville organizations.

It's mission is simple: to double the number of young adults in Brownsville who earn a postsecondary credential with labor market value by 2025.

"Doubling the number by 2025 gives us a lot of time to build a good partnership, get the policies and practices into place that we need so that students can start now to plan for long term success," said United Way Southern Cameron County CEO Traci Wickett.

"If we don't impact the educational system, then we're never gonna have a good workforce with which to attract companies to come in here and build their businesses and provide new and high paying jobs for our economy," said Workforce Solutions CEO Pat Hobbs.

And in terms of knowing what drives the economy, it's important to know what type of job or field will actually get someone and to get started early.

"You know, what's the point in getting a job in underwater basketweaving if you can't find a job in it? And our students sometimes don't understand that..." said student ambassador Navile Rodriguez.

"We have students from UTB, TSC and even TSTC that go back to the high school they graduated from to talk to students about how to overcome challenges and barriers to postsecondary credentials," said All In coordinator Mariana Tumlinson.

So far, officials associated with the program are saying it's too soon to determine exactly what type of impact All In has been having on the young adults of Brownsville.

But they're confident about the future.

"I can pretty much guarantee you that we will more than double the number of credentials by 2025," said Wickett.